James Skehill admits he’s thankful to Joe Canning for giving him the thump he desperately wanted.

Galway goalkeeper Skehill can recall the exact moment that he knew he was back.

Sidelined since November with a shoulder operation to fix a full dislocation he suffered just 48 hours before the All-Ireland final replay in September, the 25-year-old returned to training in April.

However, he still wanted confirmation that he was good as new for the Championship campaign ahead. And, ahead of Galway’s qualifier clash with Clare on Sunday, Skehill smiled as he recalled it was star forward Canning who obliged with a heavy challenge during a session in May.

“It was the full dislocation,” explained Skehill. “It brought everything with it.

“I’ve all the all-clear since. I’ve been to specialists and they’ve all given me that.

“But the only way to really get it is to get a challenge – or hit the floor after a dive.

“We were doing a drill in training and I picked up a ball, it was five on five and you had to get the ball from A to B.

“You had to go through a lad and I remember Joe hit me a shoulder, right on it.

“It felt good – and it was a massive relief, a huge relief. Joe hits me hard, but I didn’t feel any pain. So I was happy!”.

It took in the region of five and a half months for Skehil to make his return, but if he has had a slow start to 2013, so have the Tribesmen.

Anthony Cunningham’s side struggled to overcome Laois in the Leinster semi-finals before deservedly going down to Dublin at Croke Park in the provincial decider.

That sets up Sunday’s eagerly-anticipated clash with the Banner at Semple Stadium.

“We have a big game coming up, by God,” he declared.

“It’s obvious we didn’t do ourselves justice in the Leinster final.

“We set out a target and we didn’t get it. The result spoke for itself, we played second fiddle to Dublin all day.

“Dublin were by far the superior team. You can’t take anything off them, I’m not saying the lack of our performance was contributing to their success. They beat us fair and square.

“But this Sunday now, I won’t say it’s redemption but it’s a game that needs to be won for us to progress.

“Our main aim is to win the All-Ireland and to do so we have three games to win – and this is step one.”

Yet Galway have failed to hit the heady heights of 2012, when they dethroned Kilkenny in Leinster and were so close to beating the Cats in the All-Ireland decider before succumbing in the replay.

However Skehill claims it isn’t so much a case of Galway regressing as other counties lifting their game.

“The professionalism of hurling these days – and football also – is at a new level,” he claimed.

“It’s evident with the fitness of Limerick this year, with the rejuvenation of Dublin, with Offaly challenging Kilkenny.

“Now more than ever, hurling is a level playing field. Now you’ve got a top five and a top six and on any given day they can beat each another.

“So for someone to say we’ve slumped so badly from last year, I wouldn’t say we’ve gone back too far.

“We’re still quality hurlers. We’re a quality side with a quality management and a quality backroom team. It’s just about getting everything right on the day. You’ve just got to click.”